


Life is sweet here

by dragonesdepapel



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is aromantic in this one btw, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Catra Has Issues (She-Ra), Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, Kinda, POV Catra (She-Ra), catradora friendship, i'm screaming that's an actual tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25407202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: “I went out with that girl from my Ethics class? The one that I hate?” Catra said, thinking on the fly. Her confidence grew as she fleshed out her lie. “Turns out she had been crushing on me all the time she was pushing her ridiculous arguments on me. I said yes because I was curious, but it didn’t work out. Sparkles is suuuuuuuch a stuck up, even outside of class.” Catra didn’t even need to fake the scowl that took over her face when imagining actually having to go on a date with her.“Wait,” said Adora, raising her hand, “Sparkles? You mean Glimmer?”
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96





	Life is sweet here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nny11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nny11/gifts).



> Today we celebrate friend's day here, so I wanted to do something for Nny11. Feliz día del amigo! Thanks for being such a good friend this past year. I love talking about life and fandom with you.
> 
> Special thanks for sadiewrites for helping me beta this.

Adora looked intently at her notes. “Ok, I think we’ve covered pretty much everything we missed.” 

“Good, does that mean we’ll get to have normal conversations now?” Catra said, but there was no bite behind the words and they both knew it. 

Ever since getting reunited after the years they had spent apart without talking, Adora had insisted on making a list of all the important topics they needed to catch up on, “ _so we make sure we don’t forget about anything.”_ Catra was mature enough to admit that it had technically been her idea, and so she couldn’t argue with that kind of logic. After all, she had been the one to suggest their weekly coffee dates to get reacquainted. Sure, Adora had shown up the following week armed with a color-coded battle plan, but that was just Adora trying to feel in control of the situation. Catra couldn’t fault her for it, not when she still clung to sarcasm and snark and made it into her armor. Besides, the charts had actually been useful. They had a lot of baggage, the both of them. Both separately, and together. Having something to give them structure had helped them navigate all the hurt that lay between them without getting lost in its currents. 

And now, according to Adora, they were done. They were free to go back to being friends. Adora had always been the most important person in Catra’s life, even when she wasn’t in it anymore, and Catra was tired of pretending that she wasn’t. 

“Well, actually,” Adora said, arching her eyebrows in the way she always did before something unbelievably dumb left her mouth, “there’s one topic left.” She paused for dramatic effect, and Catra couldn’t believe how much she had missed this dumbass. “Your love life.” 

“Pfft, right.” 

“What? I'm serious! You haven’t mentioned anything about it. I wanna know!” 

“There’s nothing to know. I’ve never had a serious girlfriend. Besides, why is my love life the one that matters? What about yours? Don’t even pretend that you don’t have girls throwing themselves at you every time you leave the house.” 

“Sadly for you, I don’t have a love life. I’m aro. I go on dates sometimes? If the girl is still up for it. They're fun, but yeah, no girlfriends for me either. But c’mon, no dates for you? Seriously? Like girls aren’t throwing themselves at you too” 

What Catra couldn’t tell Adora was that her self-image issues combined with her trust issues and her abandonment issues meant she had never gone on a date in her whole life. Or well, she could. But then she’d have to voice those issues. And talk about the issues. And think about the issues. She had made progress on them. She wasn’t the same girl she had been when Adora had left her life. Therapy had helped, creating new meaningful friendships had helped, working on it instead burying them within herself had helped. But knowing she was better at handling them and actually putting them up to the test with something as fickle as dating could be... Catra hadn’t felt ready for it. She knew Adora would understand, it wasn’t about that. But they had just gotten a break from talking about heavy stuff. 

“You’re right, I went on a date last week. Happy now?” 

“I knew it! And? How was it?” 

“Not great?” That was the safest answer, right? This way Adora would drop it and soon forget about this conversation altogether. 

“What, why?” 

Or, ok, maybe she wouldn’t drop it that easily. 

“I went out with that girl from my Ethics class? The one that I hate?” Catra said, thinking on the fly. Her confidence grew as she fleshed out her lie. “Turns out she had been crushing on me all the time she was pushing her ridiculous arguments on me. I said yes because I was curious, but it didn’t work out. Sparkles is suuuuuuuch a stuck up, even outside of class.” Catra didn’t even need to fake the scowl that took over her face when imagining having to actually go on a date with her. 

“Wait,” said Adora, literally raising her hand, “Sparkles? You mean Glimmer?” 

Catra’s brain froze. She couldn’t have...could she? But no, of course she had, because the universe had never been keen on giving Catra a break, and of course this time wouldn’t be any different. 

Adora went on, unaware of the major system crash going on inside of Catra’s mind. “Catra, you never told me you were in the same class as Glimmer! I know you’ve talked about her before, but you always called her ‘that spoiled princess’ and I guess Glimmer has talked about you too? But she never said your name either, she calls you...well, it doesn’t matter what she calls you, but now you two have gone on a date?” 

While Catra wanted to blame some higher power for this terrible, awful situation she had landed herself into, the truth, plain and simple, was that she had all but forgotten about her annoying classmate’s real name. Who knew snark and sarcasm had their downsides? So yeah, she had never made the connection between the obnoxious girl who kept interrupting her professor with questions that only helped to show how oh so smart she was, and Adora’s new best friend. And now, she was going to have to pay the price. A horrible, terrible, inhuman price. 

“When was the date?” Adora continued, still too up in her own head. “Glimmer didn’t tell me she was going out.” 

“She was probably too embarrassed to admit how big her crush on me was,” Catra gritted out. 

Apparently, her luck had run out and her tone must have revealed the truth, because Adora looked at her with suspicion. 

“And what did you two do?” 

“We went out for coffee after class. It was lame, we decided to go back to being mortal enemies. Why is this such a big deal?” 

“Um, besides the fact that two of my best friends went on a date together? And apparently neither of them decided to tell me?” 

Catra let some exasperation seep into her voice. “Maybe because we knew you’d be weird about it? Like you are being right now?” It wasn’t Adora’s fault that she had landed herself in this mess, but hell if she wasn’t going to do whatever it took to get out of it with her dignity still intact. 

Adora leaned back on her seat. “No, I don’t buy it.” 

“So... what? You think I’m lying about going on a date with Glimmer? Why on Earth would I do that?” 

"I don’t know, you tell me.” 

Catra groaned and rested her forehead against the table. “You are being impossible.” 

She heard Adora giggle. “Ok, how about this. You guys give it another chance and go on a second date. You prove me wrong and I’ll shut up about this if it doesn’t work out.” 

“And what are you gonna do to make sure you believe us this time? Drive us there? Stare at us from a window?” She didn’t bother picking her head up. Maybe if she closed her eyes long enough, this whole situation would go away. 

Another laugh. “No, it’ll be a double date!” 

Catra groaned again. Seriously, she knew she had screwed up but c’mon, she surely didn’t deserve this! She was a good person! Most days, at least. 

“Do you even have a date?” She raised her head, deciding that apparently the only way through this was forward. 

“Yep! Sea Hawk invited me to that new sea themed indoor amusement park at the mall.” 

“That’s not even a date! Sea Hawk is dating Mermista!” 

If Catra had been in the right mood, she’d probably have thought that it was funny that it had taken her this long to figure out that she knew Glimmer too, but that it had taken them ten minutes to realize that they had Sea Hawk and Mermista as common friends. After all, the only reason they had ran into each other a month and a half ago was because a fire alarm had forced everyone in the museum they were at to take the fire escape. To this day, Sea Hawk and Mermista refused to say how they had managed to start a fire in the byzantine exhibit. Catra had meet them through Scorpia, who was friends with Sea Hawk. Scorpia occasionally gave him relationship advice and they both liked to cry watching inspirational movies together? Mermista was fun to go drinking with. 

Adora stuck her tongue out. “Mermista refused to spend her fourth weekend in a row there, so I’m only replacing her. I can always third-wheel a more private date between you too.” 

“First, that’s seriously not how anything works. And second, you could not get involved at all,” Catra said, even though she knew it was hopeless. An idea had settled inside of Adora’s big head, and it wouldn’t leave until it had been properly taken care of. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun! There’ll be arcade games and rides! Unless there’s another reason you don’t want to do it... something you’d like to confess...” 

“Whatever, let’s do it. I mean, if Glimmer is even up to it...” 

Adora grinned. “I’m sure she’ll love it.” 

Catra managed to change the topic after that, but she did excuse herself to go to the bathroom as soon as she thought it was safe to do so. She texted the few people from her Ethics class whose numbers she had bothered getting on her way there. Lonnie, bless her reliability, had already sent back Glimmer’s contact by the time the door closed behind Catra. She pressed call before she could think better of it. 

“Hello?” 

Her voice was annoying even through the phone. 

“Hey, Sparkles.” 

“Ugh, Catra what do you want?” 

“What, no hello, how are you? Catra said, never passing the chance to be a pain on Glimmer’s ass. 

“I already said hello. And I don’t actually care how you are. I know you’d only bother calling me if you needed a favor so c’mon, out with it.” 

Catra sighed. “Ok, I might have done something really dumb.” 

“You, I’m shocked.” 

This was the worst thing Catra had done in her entire life. 

“I might have told Adora that we went on a date together.” 

For a few seconds, the other end went silent. Then- 

“You have to be kidding me. You are Catra? Adora’s Catra? She talks so highly of you; it never even crossed my mind that you could be the same person.” 

Catra snorted. “Right back at you, princess.” 

But Glimmer didn’t seem to hear her. “That means I’ll have to put up with you now. I won’t be free after this class from hell ends. I’ll keep seeing you at birthdays. And maybe hang outs. And...” 

Catra let Glimmer ramble away, knowing that she had to get through the five stages of grief before she could be of any use to her. 

“Wait, did you say date? Why would you ever say that?” 

“I don’t know! I needed a name and yours was the first one that popped up in my head. I didn’t realize you were you either until Adora made the connection first.” 

“So, you want me to what, lie to my best friend?” 

“I want you to come to a second date with me, Adora, and Sea Hawk. I told her the first date didn’t work out but she started suspecting me and said we had to go on a second one to prove I wasn’t lying.” 

“Which you are, and now you want me to lie too.” 

“Oh, spare me the good girl act. I know you have a price.” 

Glimmer spluttered indignantly, her voice going all high. “Excuse me!” 

Catra tuned her out again till her little tirade was over. She eyed the clock. She needed this conversation to end soon if she didn’t want Adora to grow suspicious. 

“So?” 

Glimmer’s sharp intake of breath rattled through the line. “I want your notes.” 

“What, no!” 

“I need them! You know I was out sick for two weeks! And there’s no one else I trust to have taken competent notes.” 

“Ok, great. You get your notes, I get your silence, and we both get a lousy date. Deal?” 

Sparkles took a second to think it out just to spite her, Catra was sure of it. “Deal.” 

“Did I mention that I already told Adora that you were the one to ask me out because of the huge, completely embarrassing crush you have on me? You’ll probably want to show your excitement when you learn that I’m asking you out on a second one.” 

Cackling, Catra ended the call. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. 

* * *

This was bad. This was so bad. 

Before her stood the entrance to Sea Land, the brand-new indoor amusement park inside the Erelandia Shopping Mall. Two columns made of waves and sea foam that showcased every single possible fish plus three octopuses, joined by a red banner with _Welcome!_ written in big bold letters. She could see even from this distance that they had not held back with the marine theme. Every single corner of the park seemed to be decorated with some kind of sea creature. 

Adora was the first one to spot her. She waved enthusiastically from their position near the entrance. Catra approached the group cautiously. She didn’t really know how she expected this day to go. A mess, probably. A complete disaster that might even go as far as jeopardize her healing relationship with Adora, if she listened to the ugly voice in her head. A lame day out, most likely. 

She got a hug from Adora, gave Sea Hawk a mock salute, and then faltered when she finally faced Glimmer. She was dressed a bit too well to be caught hanging out at a kids amusement park. Her crop top was purple, and sparkly, and her high waisted shorts complimented it perfecty, and look, she knew Glimmer was hot, ok? It was no coincidence she was the first person she thought of to have been on a fake date with. But so far, she had strictly seen her in her university clothes, which looked just as polished and stylish, but this was something else entirely. 

“Hey,” she said, because there was no way one single syllable could betray her, right? 

Glimmer arched an eyebrow. “Hi.” 

“So, are you guys ready for an ADVENTURE!’” yelled Sea Hawk. 

“Always!” Adora matched his eagerness without a pinch of irony. 

“I thought we decided to have lunch first?” 

“Right. Lunch first, adventure later. Let's go!” he said, leading the way. 

To her surprise, Glimmer fell into step next to her, a little behind the other two. She clung to Catra’s arm and whispered sweetly in her ear. 

“So, since I asked you the first time, this one is on you, right?” 

Catra glared at her. “You are rich.” 

“Wow, I didn’t know you were so cheap. This dating thing really makes you get to know the other person, doesn’t it?” 

“Are you going to be like this all afternoon?” 

Glimmer pretended to think about it. “Mmmmmmaybe.” 

Catra smirked. “Good. It’s on, princess.” 

They stopped at the fringes of the food court. After a quick debate over where they should order, Sea Hawk went one way, and Adora, Catra and Glimmer went the other one. They got in the queue at McDonalds, which Catra had been surprised to hear Glimmer also wanted to eat at. Glimmer ordered before Catra, but she quickly handed her card to the cashier and told her to add it to her total. Glimmer looked at her in surprise, but Catra smirked at her. She could be nice if she wanted to. 

They got their trays and reunited with Sea Hawk, who had ordered at a sushi place. Adora sat in front of Catra, who sat next to Glimmer. 

“So, you two never mentioned knowing each other! And know you are embarking in the purest quest together, the quest of love!” 

Catra groaned. Why was everyone so obsessed with this. 

“It’s actually very funny,” Glimmer replied before Catra could snap something that she would have probably regretted later, “we didn’t realize we knew each other! It wasn’t until we went out and I mentioned Adora, that it clicked.” 

She had to hand it to her, she was apparently committed to selling this off. 

“Yeah, it was so funny,” Catra said. 

“And yet, neither of you thought it was important to tell me about it.” 

Glimmer waved her concerns away. “We were going to! We just...” 

“We had had a bad day, and our date wasn’t great. We wanted to wait until it wasn’t awkward.” 

Sea Hawk nodded sagely. “A true quest is never without obstacles.” 

“It is hard to keep up a good mood when your four-hour lecture runs almost twenty minutes late because someone just couldn’t keep her questions to herself,” Catra agreed. 

“Well, some of us weren’t gifted with bigger and heavier brains so we need to ask the professors for clarification some times.” 

“Even when it comes to readings that aren’t required for the course and you are only bringing up to show off how much of a nerd you are?” 

Glimmer’s smile was so strained it was probably hurting her. 

Adora coughed. “So, being in class together is fun, huh?” 

Catra waited till Glimmer had her face buried in her burger to say, “I mean, we all know now that the only reason Glimmer picked so many arguments with me is because she didn’t know how to handle her feelings for me. It’s rather sweet, if you think about it.” 

Glimmer choked on her food. Catra rubbed her shoulder earnestly, and handed Glimmer her drink with the other hand. 

“Good thing she managed to figure it out, right?” 

“Thank you, Catra,” Glimmer said through gritted teeth, but managed to pass it off as still being recovering from her coughing fit. “And yes, it was a great thing. Because now we get to be here! All of us together!” 

Catra leaned forward, getting on Glimmer’s space. She let her mouth hovering near her ear for a second. Her hand was still on Glimmer’s shoulder, and she could feel her go rigid under her touch. 

“You got ketchup on your chin, princess,” Catra whispered. 

She sat back on her seat, suppressing the urge to cackle maniacally. Gimmer feigned composure as she reached for the napkins, but her cheeks had tinged red. Adora saw it, and she smiled, pleased with herself. Was it mean of Catra to deceive her in this way? But it wasn’t like Glimmer and Catra’s relationship had that much impact on their shared friend. And Glimmer had agreed to this, so it couldn’t be that bad of a plan, right? 

Right? 

The rest of the conversation stayed away from them as a topic, which Catra couldn’t be more grateful for. She didn’t mess with Glimmer as much though, at least not when Adora could see it, even though there were plenty openings to embarrass her throughout lunch. 

“Ok, but you should have seen Adora taking down that guy though.” 

“Me? It was you who scratched his eye out.” 

“I had to! He was twice your size and you needed the advantage!” 

“Adora needed the advantage?” 

Adora laughed. “No, she’s right, I did. I was fifteen at the time and this guy was so big.” 

“Adora!” Glimmer scolded her, scandalized. “What were you thinking, taking a swing at a guy like that?” 

“What!? He grabbed Catra’s ass when we walked by his side! I couldn't just do nothing.” 

Glimmer buried her face in her hands. “You are terrible, I can’t believe you were already doing this kind of thing when you were fifteen.” 

“Wait, already?” 

“We are banned from half the bars in Bright Moon,” Glimmer deadpanned. 

Adora punched her lightly on the arm. “That’s not true! Maybe a quarter of them. I always ask them to apologize first, it’s not my fault some of them will rather get violent than do it.” 

“Don’t worry,” Catra said, knocking her shoulder to Glimmer’s, “she won’t try to punch you if you touch my ass.” 

Glimmer groaned, and, this time, Catra didn’t try to contain her laughter. 

They made it back to Sea Land’s entrance, where its multitude of fish stared at Catra like they knew her secret. 

“To adventure!” yelled Sea Hawk, walking inside. 

A couple of families turned their heads and looked their way. Adora and Glimmer either didn’t notice, or were too used to Sea Hawk’s outbursts to care anymore. They pooled their money and decided to only get two cards. The idea was to hit the arcade section first but, of course, it all got sidetracked once Adora and Sea Hawk spotted the pirate ship. 

“Absolutely no, no way,” Catra said, crossing her arms. 

They had dragged her to where the attraction stood, but she had planted herself firmly on the floor and she planned on going no further. The monstrosity before her was already in action, swinging back and forth in a way that made Catra’s stomach churn in fear. She wasn’t voicing that out loud, of course. But there was no way she was going on that ride either. 

Adora turned her –weirdly effective– puppy eyes on her. Catra refused to give her ground. 

“We literally just ate!” 

Adora sighed. “Ok, we can go on this one later.” 

“Ok, ok,” Catra relented. 

“You are coming with!?” 

“Of course not! But you three can go if you want. I’ll just wait for you down here.” 

Adora didn’t look too convinced but Catra shoved her towards the line forming at the base of the ride. 

“It’ll only be a couple of minutes, I’m not a child.” 

“It’s not nice to leave you alone right as we got here!” 

“Glimmer, tell her to stop being dumb,” Catra demanded. 

“I don’t know, she does have a point. Maybe we can make it up to you?” 

Catra shifted her weight. “I’m listening.” 

Glimmer stepped forward, resting a hand on Catra’s shoulder. She used it as leverage so she could stand a little taller, then slowly, deliberately, planted a kiss on Catra’s cheek. Her lips were soft. Once done, Glimmer took half a step back, still partly standing on Catra’s space. 

“How’s that?” 

Catra’s cheeks were on fire, they had to be with how hot they felt. “Great,” she said, aiming for nonchalant and probably missing the mark terribly. “Enjoy your ride,” she squeaked out, before ducking out of the line and walking away. 

She ended up doing circles around the ride. The repetitive motion helped dispose of her nervous energy. 

“Hey!” someone called behind her. 

Catra turned around, and found Glimmer walking towards her. 

“What happened, you chickened out?” 

Glimmer looked at her weirdly. “No? We already went up.” 

Well then, she had been in on her head far longer than she thought. 

“Where are the others?” 

“Sea Hawk bet Adora that she couldn’t ride five times in a row without throwing up.” Glimmer rolled her eyes. “So, of course, she bet him he couldn’t do it ten times in a row without puking. They said we should go ahead without them.” 

“Can’t those two be normal for two minutes?” 

“Has Adora told you about the time they got at it during one of Perfuma’s drum circles?” 

They headed towards the arcade section as Glimmer told her the story. By the end, Catra was clutching at her sides, snickering terribly. 

“They did not!” 

“They so did! And they had me record the whole thing, they wanted a fair trial. Adora tried to erase all proof of it but I still have the original saved, I can send it to you later if you swear you won’t tell.” 

“Your secret is safe with me, princess,” Catra said, folding a hand over her heart. 

They came across a Whack-A-Mole machine, so they decided to give that a try first. The machine was, of course, blue, with wave paintings all over its sides. The moles were actually dolphins, and there were eight of them. 

Glimmer stood in front of the cabinet, a confused looked on her face. “Where’s the mallet?” 

“I think you just use your hands. Unless that’s beneath you, of course.” 

She scowled. “That’s not what I said.” 

Catra swiped the plastic card, starting the game. “Sure you didn’t.” 

Glimmer looked like she wanted to argue, but the music started playing and she turned her attention towards the game. She did well at first, the dolphins peeking out at a comfortable pace. It didn’t last long though, since the difficulty seemed to escalate at an unnerving rhythming, leaving Glimmer huffing and puffing as she frantically attempted to hit the mocking dolphins only for her hand to meet the hard wooden surface every time. 

In the end she stood there, glaring at the machine as its cheerful music played on, and it spit out six pitiful tickets. Her face was so full of rage and despair that Catra couldn’t help but cackle at her pain, which only made Glimmer’s face more alight with anger. She moved aside and pushed Catra to her previous spot. 

“Let’s see how you handle it, then,” she said as she swiped the card the same way Catra had done it, without giving the other one time to get ready. 

Catra chose to use her whole palm to land the hit, a much more effective method than using her closed fists like Glimmer had. The first seconds of gameplay made her grow confident, but as the music went faster and faster, so did the dolphins. By the end, they only stayed up for what felt like half a second, and if Catra managed to touch any of them, it was purely by chance. 

She ended up exactly like Glimmer had, glaring uselessly at the cabinet, seriously considering giving it a kick. It gave her ten tickets for her troubles, but she couldn’t even bring herself to gloat in front of Glimmer. They were both losers and they knew it. 

“This game can’t seriously be for kids.” 

Glimmer threw her arms up in the air. “See!? It’s evil! And it’s rigged! It wanted us to lose!” 

“We’re not gonna let it! Come here.” 

They stood side by side, and, this time, Catra looked at Glimmer before starting the game. Glimmer nodded her head, and Catra swiped the card. Catra took over the four holes on the left, and Glimmer over the ones of the right side. They needed two more tries, but eventually they were rewarded with the high score theme and fifty tickets. Glimmer pumped her fist up in the air before sticking her tongue out at the machine, and Catra lost it. 

“Ok, that’s enough for you. Let's go find you a different game.” 

She grabbed her hand and lead her away. To her surprise, instead of letting go, Glimmer tangled their fingers together. Catra looked around, trying to spot Adora among the crowd, but she didn’t find her. Perhaps Glimmer had mistaken someone else for her? 

“I want this one!” 

Catra couldn’t contain her snort. 

“Basketball, seriously?” 

Glimmer smacked her free hand against Catra’s shoulder. “What? It’s fun!” 

“You are just begging me to make fun of you with this one. You can’t convince me you aren’t trying to overcompensate.” 

“I don’t need to compensate for anything. But I mean, if that’s the conclusion you jump to, maybe consider that you might be projecting your own insecurities about your height on me? Hate to tell you this, Catra, but you are no giant either.” 

“I rather leave that to Adora. Being the tall buff friend is the only thing she has going for her, after all.” 

“You are so mean,” said Glimmer, but she was laughing too. 

She let go of Catra’s hand to start the game, which made Catra frown for reasons unknown. Glimmer landed every single shot. She smiled smugly when they watched the long row of tickets that got her. Catra tried, but it was a tough act to follow. She regained some of her dignity later, at Skee-Ball. Her performance wasn’t as impressive, but her pile of tickets was slightly bigger than Glimmer’s. 

They teamed up in a game where they had to throw balls at trash cans that would open and close, complete with little turtles peeking in and out of them. It wasn’t hard, there were many trash cans and they stayed open long enough to get a couple of balls in each time, but the game supplied them with a huge amount of ball pit balls to play with, so they decided to capitalize on that. Catra opted for holding a bunch of balls between her arm and her body and using her other hand to pick them up one by one to throw them. Glimmer’s approach was a bit more... free. She kept crouching and rising to grab the balls, using both hands to throw, maximizing their total throwing count. 

Needless to say, they earned a ton of tickets for that one. 

“I think I’ll never get that song out of my head,” complained Catra. 

“What was even the theme of that game?” 

“I think pollution? We were throwing trash into cans?” 

“Ok, but then why were the turtles inside the trash cans?” 

Catra shrugged. “As if anything in this place made sense.” 

“You are right. I still can’t believe they don’t have a dance game here.” 

“I know, you’ve whined about it like five times already.” 

“It’s not my fault! It really should be illegal for an arcade not to have a Pump it Up game.” 

“You’ve said that too.” 

Glimmer laughed, and linked her arm with Catra’s. She started talking again, but interrupted herself. She raised her arm in the air and called. 

“Over here!” 

Adora and Sea Hawk spotted them and made their way over to them. A couple of hairs had escaped Adora’s hair tie, but she had a huge grin on her face, while Sea Hawk looked way more subdued than Catra had ever seen him. 

“I won!” announced Adora as soon as she was within speaking distance. 

Catra held up her hand up for a high five. “Great job!” 

Glimmer pursed her lips, but Catra could spy the corner of her mouth threatening to turn into a smile. “If you two are done being dumb, maybe we could do something together? Like bumper cars!” 

Adora bounced on her toes at the suggestion, but Catra noticed Sea Hawk’s face get a shade greener, and thought it prudent to intervene. 

“Maybe later?” She subtly nodded to Sea Hawk, whose silence was now getting a bit concerning. 

“What about...” Glimmer looked around, using Catra’s arm as support. “The laser maze?” 

“Isn’t that kinda lame?” asked Catra. 

“What’s gonna be lame is how much I’m going to kick your ass at it,” said Adora. 

“You wish!” 

Some of Sea Hawk’s vitality came back. “It’s decided then, to the laser maze!” 

Adora started telling Glimmer and her about their epic showdown at the pirate ship. In turn, Glimmer complained about the lack of dancing games. Catra was only half listening to them. Glimmer’s presence at her side was warm, and her arm was at the perfect height for Catra to rest her own over it, and she got distracted thinking about the last time she had been comfortable touching someone that wasn’t Adora, or being touched by someone who wasn’t Scorpia. It was nice. 

They all decided, of course, to play in the expert mode right away. Sea Hawk valiantly offered to go first, so they could at least get a sense of the game before their turn. They were in a dark room with laser lights strewn around, with some of them moving in regular patterns. The space was open and completely empty except for some floor mirrors. They watched as Sea Hawk gave them a salute before he dramatically threw himself to the floor to crawl under the first couple of beams of light. 

“He’s doing better than I thought,” said Catra, impressed. 

“Remember it’s the fourth time he’s come here.” 

“That makes more sense.” 

Sea Hawk managed to get across the room without touching any lights. He rolled under the last one, ending in a crouching position with his hands close to his chest in a clear gun gesture. He turned his head sharply left, then right, pretending to look for enemies, before finally standing up and approaching a control panel. He pushed a big red button, disabling the lasers and stopping the clock. The girls cheered as the lights turned back on. 

Catra had to admit, it was fun. She hadn’t been looking forward to having to drag herself through the floor, but once the timer had started, she had focused on her goal and hadn’t thought twice about it. It wasn’t easy, but Catra hadn’t spent her whole childhood doing gymnastics for nothing. She made it to the other side without any issues, her total time not much higher than Sea Hawk’s. They did three runs, and Catra really pushed herself to win as fast as possible. Glimmer stepped on a laser on her first try, but got it right on the second one. Her score was pretty good, but not as good as Catra’s. Despite having watched her complete the circuit, Catra still didn’t know how she had made it out of some places. One moment she was standing before a knot of lights so tight there didn’t seem to be any possible way for her to cross it without touching any, then the next one she was standing on the other side of it, as if she had teleported over. 

Adora got in some pretty amazing moves and jumps, but didn’t manage to complete the circuit until her third try, always getting careless and getting hit by a laser halfway through. Sea Hawk got the lowest score on his three runs, but he compensated by giving them a performance that even Double Trouble would have been proud of. His rendition of a spy trying to infiltrate an enemy base was so heartfelt, the game operator clapped along with them at the end of his turn. 

“I'll admit I’m impressed, Sparkles. You are nowhere near my level, of course, but still, it was a pretty good try, for you.” 

“Trash-talking me even after we are done, Catra? You must have felt very threatened.” 

Catra let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, sure, as if you could ever catch up to me.” 

Glimmer rolled her eyes, but let the argument be. Since they still needed some time to recover from the exercise, they made their way to the Ferris wheel. They got in line, Catra still gently ribbing Adora and Glimmer for their performances at the laser maze. The pods of the wheel were small and only accommodated two people. When they made it to the front and the operator asked for their park cards, Catra and Glimmer stepped forward first, but Adora pushed Glimmer away. 

“I call dibs on Catra!” she said, grabbing her by the hand and pushing her inside the pod. 

Catra only had time to shoot Glimmer a bewildered look before the door closed behind Adora. Glimmer shrugged, an amused smile on her face. _Good luck,_ she mouthed, but her face said that she didn’t really mean it. The pod started moving, and Catra turned to Adora. She was sitting in front of her, an eager expression on her face. 

“So...?” 

Catra blinked. “Isn’t that my line? What happened out there?” 

Adora huffed. “I thought we could use the opportunity to talk.” 

Yeah, Catra wasn’t following. “Talk about what?” 

Adora looked as confused as Catra felt. “You don’t want to talk?” 

Catra threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “About what!?” 

Adora’s expression softened. She took one of Catra’s hands. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” 

“Yes?” 

“And that also means that if you tell me to back off, at any time, I will, right?” 

Oh. “...yeah.” 

“I’m sorry I pushed you the other day. I should have realized I was making you uncomfortable.” 

Catra avoided her eyes. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I was being a baby, I should have been open with you. Especially since we just mended our relationship. You know you are one of the most important people in my life, right? I don’t want to lie to you, even about dumb crap.” 

Adora gave her hand a light squeeze. “I know. And it’s ok.” 

Catra felt like a weight had dislodged from her chest, and she could breathe fully again. She hadn’t even realized how much this whole situation had been affecting her until now. So what if she had never been on an actual date before? She had nothing to be ashamed of. Adora, of all people, would never make her feel bad about that. She also understood her issues better than anyone, and, above all, like she had said, would always respect her boundaries. It might have taken them two tries to get their friendship right, but Catra knew all this to be true. 

Adora’s gaze shifted to the side for a second, looking through the glass and over the park below them. “There is another reason I insisted on you doing this, though.” 

“Mhm?” 

There was that ridiculous expression again. Maybe if Adora did it often enough, her eyebrows would get stuck like that, one up near her hairline, the other one low, and Catra would get to laugh about it every time she saw her. 

“Glimmer’s hot, isn’t she?” 

“Adora what the fuck?” Catra yelled, pushing Adora by the shoulder. 

Her head hit the back of the seat, but it was mostly because of how wildly she was laughing than from anything Catra had done. “Don’t try to deny it, I saw the way you looked at her today!” 

Catra’s cheeks lit up. She crossed her arms. “Maybe, so?” 

Adora grinned at her. “I’m sure she thinks you are very hot too. Maybe even so hot her brain will malfunction if you happen to kiss her cheek...?” 

“You are the worst,” Catra whined. 

The laughter lasted even longer this time. “I also know,” Adora said delicately, once her laugh had subsided, “that Glimmer is one of the best people I know. One of the few ones I would trust with you.” 

Catra sighed and didn’t reply, choosing instead to grab Adora’s hand again. They kept their hands joined as they enjoyed the rest of the ride. 

When they all got out, Adora not so subtly said, “Sea Hawk! Show me your favorite game in the park!” 

“But of course! Follow me!” 

They marched forward, and Catra couldn’t help but roll her eyes. 

“So... what did Adora want to talk about?” 

Glimmer had appeared at her side, and wasted no time in locking her arm in Catra’s again. 

“You know...Adora stuff.” 

It was one of her weakest lines, she could admit to that. Glimmer gave her an arched eyebrow in return, but didn’t push the issue. 

“So...” Catra mirrored. “I’m pretty sure the arcade over at the Fright Zone has a Dance Dance Revolution machine.” 

“That’s good to know.” 

She could trust Glimmer not to make this easy. 

“It was thinking, maybe, if for once you decide not to needle our Ethics professor to the point of exhaustion, we could go together after class next week?” 

Gimmer raised her free hand to her throat, opening her eyes in mock surprise. “Are you asking me out, Catra?” 

“Yes, Glimmer. I, Catra, am asking you out.” 

A smile replaced her previous expression. She dropped her hand, and rested it on top of Catra’s arm where it was linked with her own. “Then yes, I’d love to go out with you some time.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I tried searching for enemies to lovers prompts when figuring out what to write for this and I didn't find anything I liked? That's why Adora ended up having to thirdwheel (she prefers the term wingman) the hell out of this one in order for it to have a plot lol (I love her so I don't mind but I was a bit worried people who came here for glitra would be annoyed.) So if anyone has a prompt they'd like to see for Glimmer/Catra feel free to put it in the comments or drop it on my [tumblr](http://thebravething.tumblr.com) and you -might- get a fic out of it.


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